Casper Ruud thinks Daniil Medvedev could do well during the clay season, despite the Russian’s well-documented animosity toward clay. In each of his last five tournaments played, Medvedev made the final – the Russian won Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami, while he finished as runner-up in Indian Wells.
But now it is time for the clay season, Medvedev’s by far least favorite surface. “It’s great to see that he stepped up and I thought the speech was funny from [Jannik] Sinner that congratulated him for this last four or five tournaments.
But now it’s clay so let’s see how you handle that because he’s maybe not as [big a] fan of clay as maybe I am. He’s a player that sort of doesn’t go away. And you have to play those winners or hit those great shots or come to the net or whatever and finish the points because he’s going to be there and make you play a lot of balls,” Ruud said on Eurosport’s Ruud Talk.
Ruud on Medvedev: He could do well on clay
“I don’t see any reason why he cannot play well on clay. Besides maybe I’m wrong Casper, but maybe because he doesn’t move his wrist as fast on clay as maybe he needs to generate some acceleration or some power.
But it can be tough to beat him still. That’s how I feel about watching him on clay,” Ruud said. After beating Jannik Sinner in the Miami final, Medvedev sounded more optimistic about his game on clay than in the past. In Miami, Medvedev said he could do well on clay and mentioned his wins over Novak Djokovic and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2019 Monte Carlo.
That year, Medvedev made the Monte Carlo semifinal, which is his best result in a big clay court tournament. Medvedev is again starting his clay season in Monte Carlo and it remains to be seen if he can reach his sixth consecutive final in Monte Carlo.
